This week the Gilcrease Museum is displaying a rare certified, handwritten copy of the Delcaration of Independence. The copy was made by Silas Deane, our country's first emissary to France. Curiously Deane was tasked with a special mission -- to secretly arrange French financing of arms, uniforms and equipment for 20,000 men in the revolutionary cause. Benjamin Franklin joined Deane in Paris in the next year, 1777, and took the declaration copy with him on a mission to Prussia. In 1949, our Thomas Gilcrease purchased if for $34,000. It is kept in a secret, high-tech area called the "Holy of Holies" at Gilcrease Museum.
Such founding documents are much on our minds as we approach the celebration of our National Day later this week. Some seem to regard them as if written by God, but as Thomas Jefferson was swift to remind us, the revolution was a "grand experiment" in self-government that would require some later corrections. Actually our Constitution has been corrected 27 times by amendments, to keep it a vital, living document. I think many Americans would be surprised to learn that the word "God" doesn't appear in the Constitution, and the word "freedom" doesn't appear in the Declaration. I suspect that the founders understood freedom to encompass unrestricted behaviour, whereas their own preferred word "liberty" seems to incorporate the notion of balancing people's freedoms and in accepting reasonable limitations.
Saint Paul today [Gal. 5] presents new concepts of "freedom." First, there is freedom from legalism. Apparently Paul's take on the Law evolved over time. In Acts 16, we find Paul making Titus get circumcised to boost his own credibility with Jewish audiences. Now later, he is dead-set against it! Legalism is problematic because as soon as there is religious law people find the loopholes allowing them to have superficial observance of the letter, while violating the spirit, of the law. The gist of the sermon on the mount is Jesus calling people to stop playing games with the Law and defeating its purposes., which can be reduced to love of God and love of the other. Too much of the Church is involved in legalism, often connected to bible-worship. The antidote is getting in touch with grace.
Second, there is freedom from false values. Paul speaks of the works of the "flesh" which he tells us include things like idolatry, jealousy, anger, and other negative qualities. We might add today godless self-reliance, self-serving lifestyles, and self-promotion, participation in all social evil, looking out for number-one and turning a blind eye to injustice and oppression. Turning away from false values can allow us to turn in the right direction for our lives, to be those God calls us to be.
So there is freedom to love and serve. To tag the Greek, we render slave-service to others, which is faith working through love (Gr. agape), and is a gift of the Spirit. This is not about a single act but a way of life. In living, our model is the Saviour who died and was raised, giving us assurance that he was perfectly obedient, totally tuned towards God. So we follow his lead and live his life That must include love of those who hate and mistreat us, and that means that we have freedom from spiritual burdens, like resentment, hatred, and grudges. That's true freedom and, as Saint Paul, says we can know that the Spirit is at work when we see the gifts: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Do these describe our daily lives, or is there work to do?
Finally, let me add to our list freedom for liberation of others. Each of us receives God's blessings for the purpose of passing them on, being a blessing to other people. In the Eastern tradition, Tuesday is the feast of Saint John Maximovitch. He was a Russian Orthodox bishop serving outside Russia and he repeatedly led people away from persecution by atheistic regimes so that they could live and serve free. Sometimes liberation has a concrete political dimension, as well as a spiritual dimension. Most people will never have the opportunity to do what this saint did but we can lead people who are in danger, spiritually-enslaved, to freedom in Christ, to redemption. Can there be any greater ministry?
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Tribute to My Friend, Doyal Davis
When we moved to Shawnee, Oklahoma, to take the helm of the Emmanuel Church there, the first person from the church to make contact was an outstanding layman, Doyal Davis. We quickly discovered that we had much in common. We both had parents named Otis (Odis) and Grace! We both had served in the military at the same time during the Vietnam era. We shared very similar views regarding theology and political science. We became fast friends and soon I enrolled Doyal in the diocesan program which led to his ordination as a deacon, serving at Emmanuel and making a real difference in lives, Doyal made positive contributions to the liturgy, with poignant sermons and even gifting to the church a Hawaiian ceremonial umbrella which, in the style of the islands, which was held over the sacred book during reading of the gospel in today's requiem for him. Doyal was also a truly superlative teacher, taking charge of Sunday School and other educational programs which he pursued in the spirit of progressive Christianity
Doyal declined to design his own funeral service, leaving that to us. As the preacher, I selected the gospel option of Saint John 14 as most relevant to the Doyal I knew. In this passage, Jesus is made to calm his disciples as he faces imminent death in Jerusalem. He tells them not to let their hearts be troubled. Rather, believing in God, they should also believe in him. Belief in the Greek carries the combined sense of spaciousness and room for all in"my Father's House." This is, of course, clear reference to the heavenly realms -- the incomprehensible dimension past our own -- but I beg to suggest that, in an Episcopal Church, we are in the Father's House in this life, here and now, and that we will therefore reflect God's all-encompassing non-judgmental love for all his children. Love indeed is "graduated." The renowned Walt Disney used to say that we graduate from the love of parents to the higher love of a life's partner -- for Doyal that was the love of his life, Jack B. Mathies. After Jack's untimely death, Doyal received companionship from his trusty sidekick, Dudey the dog! Then, in the graduation to eternal life, we shall find the highest love of all in the pure presence of the Divine, and it is to that reality we commend Doyal.
Finally, Jesus states that he is "the way, the truth, and the life," leading to God. This utterance is often employed by our co-religionists as a weapon, as a threat against those who are non-Christians. But is that rational? A way is a path, a journey to follow. Jesus' way is clearly the way of death to the old self, and rebirth to a new kind of life -- turning from a selfish self-centred lifestyle to a loving and self- sacrificial life for others. That, of course, is what constitutes loving God and the neighbour, which is a cornerstone principle of all the world's great religions. It is no surprise that the very earliest name for the Jesus Movement was "The Way." Incarnation is the term we use to describe how the "logos" of God inhabited the person of Jesus, so that, as Ben Herbster said, Jesus is all of God that can be packed into a man. So, if you want to see what God's way looks like in a human life, look to Jesus. If you want to see what the truth walking looks like, look at Jesus. If you want to see what God life, real life, looks like in the human context, look at Jesus.
Jesus cared nothing for doctrine or dogma, except to the extent that he torqued-up Torah to stop people from playing games with it, finding ways around the spirit while keeping the letter of the Law. Jesus called us to build the Kingdom of God, The Kingdom of God is not the Church. This Kingdom of God is not some pie-in-the-sky by-and-by expectation. It is this world transformed so that God's will is done on earth as in heaven. That has an inescapably political dimension. We cannot claim that we love Jesus and then ignore the cruel realities everywhere. Doyal knew that principle, and clearly it pervaded his preaching, his teaching, his very life. So, our best tribute to our dear friend as we go forward is to rededicate ourselves to following the teachings of Jesus and living his life, which is the only life worth living anyway. And with that, I say -- as Doyal often did -- "yee=hah!"
Doyal declined to design his own funeral service, leaving that to us. As the preacher, I selected the gospel option of Saint John 14 as most relevant to the Doyal I knew. In this passage, Jesus is made to calm his disciples as he faces imminent death in Jerusalem. He tells them not to let their hearts be troubled. Rather, believing in God, they should also believe in him. Belief in the Greek carries the combined sense of spaciousness and room for all in"my Father's House." This is, of course, clear reference to the heavenly realms -- the incomprehensible dimension past our own -- but I beg to suggest that, in an Episcopal Church, we are in the Father's House in this life, here and now, and that we will therefore reflect God's all-encompassing non-judgmental love for all his children. Love indeed is "graduated." The renowned Walt Disney used to say that we graduate from the love of parents to the higher love of a life's partner -- for Doyal that was the love of his life, Jack B. Mathies. After Jack's untimely death, Doyal received companionship from his trusty sidekick, Dudey the dog! Then, in the graduation to eternal life, we shall find the highest love of all in the pure presence of the Divine, and it is to that reality we commend Doyal.
Finally, Jesus states that he is "the way, the truth, and the life," leading to God. This utterance is often employed by our co-religionists as a weapon, as a threat against those who are non-Christians. But is that rational? A way is a path, a journey to follow. Jesus' way is clearly the way of death to the old self, and rebirth to a new kind of life -- turning from a selfish self-centred lifestyle to a loving and self- sacrificial life for others. That, of course, is what constitutes loving God and the neighbour, which is a cornerstone principle of all the world's great religions. It is no surprise that the very earliest name for the Jesus Movement was "The Way." Incarnation is the term we use to describe how the "logos" of God inhabited the person of Jesus, so that, as Ben Herbster said, Jesus is all of God that can be packed into a man. So, if you want to see what God's way looks like in a human life, look to Jesus. If you want to see what the truth walking looks like, look at Jesus. If you want to see what God life, real life, looks like in the human context, look at Jesus.
Jesus cared nothing for doctrine or dogma, except to the extent that he torqued-up Torah to stop people from playing games with it, finding ways around the spirit while keeping the letter of the Law. Jesus called us to build the Kingdom of God, The Kingdom of God is not the Church. This Kingdom of God is not some pie-in-the-sky by-and-by expectation. It is this world transformed so that God's will is done on earth as in heaven. That has an inescapably political dimension. We cannot claim that we love Jesus and then ignore the cruel realities everywhere. Doyal knew that principle, and clearly it pervaded his preaching, his teaching, his very life. So, our best tribute to our dear friend as we go forward is to rededicate ourselves to following the teachings of Jesus and living his life, which is the only life worth living anyway. And with that, I say -- as Doyal often did -- "yee=hah!"
Sunday, June 16, 2019
Trinity Sunday: Progressive Revelation
In today's gospel pericope [Jno. 16: 12-15] Jesus leads off with a remarkable statement, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth." We understand the part about the Spirit leading the Church into all truth. However, what does that first part mean? Are the disciples so stupid they can't absorb any more information? Or maybe they are already grieving for Jesus and cannot concentrate! Either of the premises is possible, but I don't think so. I believe he is saying that, for their own time and place, disciples have heard as much as was by then to be revealed. I believe that later revelation, what we denominate progressive revelation, will deal with concepts then undiscovered in human reality, And additionally the Spirit will lead in the gradual realization of Jesus' call for non-judgmental love and inclusion of all God's children in his new community.
Let's imagine the conversation takes a different turn. Jesus says o.k., let me tell you that people will eventually learn from science that life forms have gradually evolved over many aeons, and that little demons do not cause epilepsy, mental illness, nor any physical disabilities; rather, tiny organisms called germs and other later-understood biological factors produce them. Could the disciples have processed that? No, it would be "mind blown. " Or suppose that Jesus had said that the bishops succeeding the apostles down through the ages would one day include many women, as would all orders of ministry. They could never have caught onto that Maybe Jesus would have said that the Church, at first open only to Jews on Pentecost, soon would be open to Gentiles and that one day, far in future, we would learn that gay and lesbians people are alright, and to be loved, accepted, and respected in the Church. They would not have begun to understand! Jesus had revealed what could be revealed in that time, place, and culture.
The Spirit reveals over time new truths and calls us to sharper views of spiritual reality. That, really, sums the Holy Trinity in action: The will of the Father (who wants all his children and his creation loved and cared for) reflected perfectly in the life and teachings of the Son, and the Spirit calling us to replicate Christ, however imperfectly, so we may become change agents for the fulfillment of God's new vision. We can only imagine the perfect love flowing amongst the Persons, calling us to love as God does, for God is love.
Let's imagine the conversation takes a different turn. Jesus says o.k., let me tell you that people will eventually learn from science that life forms have gradually evolved over many aeons, and that little demons do not cause epilepsy, mental illness, nor any physical disabilities; rather, tiny organisms called germs and other later-understood biological factors produce them. Could the disciples have processed that? No, it would be "mind blown. " Or suppose that Jesus had said that the bishops succeeding the apostles down through the ages would one day include many women, as would all orders of ministry. They could never have caught onto that Maybe Jesus would have said that the Church, at first open only to Jews on Pentecost, soon would be open to Gentiles and that one day, far in future, we would learn that gay and lesbians people are alright, and to be loved, accepted, and respected in the Church. They would not have begun to understand! Jesus had revealed what could be revealed in that time, place, and culture.
The Spirit reveals over time new truths and calls us to sharper views of spiritual reality. That, really, sums the Holy Trinity in action: The will of the Father (who wants all his children and his creation loved and cared for) reflected perfectly in the life and teachings of the Son, and the Spirit calling us to replicate Christ, however imperfectly, so we may become change agents for the fulfillment of God's new vision. We can only imagine the perfect love flowing amongst the Persons, calling us to love as God does, for God is love.
Sunday, June 9, 2019
Pentecost: Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday to Christ's One, Holy, Catholic Church. That Church has three great Communions -- Roman, Orthodox, and we Anglicans. We are eighty-five million strong around the world and we carry on about 1989 years of tradition through apostolic succession of bishops coming down from the Apostles. So, Happy Birthday to us!
The roots of the festival are found in ancient Judaic practice. Harvest was conducted fifty days after the first budding of the plants, and so that fiftieth day was celebrated as the harvest of fruits, a festival called Shavout . Soon, the teachers added a new dimension onto that: they reckoned that the Law had been given fifty days after Moses and company arrived at Sinai, hence the festival also became a celebration of the giving of the Law. Now, at Luke's pen, it becomes the festival of the harvest of souls and giving of the Spirit, a project of fulfillment.
Pentecost is similarly marked at fifty days, from Easter. The apostles and Our Lady are in an upper room in Jerusalem when they experience theophany. These manifestations -- fire, wind, earthquake, ethereal voices and the like -- symbolize that God is doing something new. The new thing is the Church and by the gift of the Spirit the frightened little band will morph into bold evangelists to give Jesus' message to the world. Chairman Peter addresses the huge assembly of Jews from all over. The critics immediately start accusing the apostles of being drunk on wine (communion wine?) Peter rebuffs the taunts and forges ahead with a powerful messages which all assembled can understand!
The 'tongue' actions this day represent a reversal of Babel, an aetiological myth in which God creates all the languages of the world to get people to be, literally, more down-to-earth and to spread out and create the nations all around the globe. Now unity and mutual understanding will reign. The Faith will be open to all. There will be no nationality, race, gender, sexuality or anything else to divide the People of God. They will have unity in One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism.
The wonderful gift of the Spirit to the Catholic Church means that we stand empowered to go out and be Christ in the world. The Spirit still lives, the Spirit still guides the Church into all truth, the Spirit still empowers us through Word and Sacrament. What a wonderful, incredible gift. Let us always try to be worthy of it in His service.
The roots of the festival are found in ancient Judaic practice. Harvest was conducted fifty days after the first budding of the plants, and so that fiftieth day was celebrated as the harvest of fruits, a festival called Shavout . Soon, the teachers added a new dimension onto that: they reckoned that the Law had been given fifty days after Moses and company arrived at Sinai, hence the festival also became a celebration of the giving of the Law. Now, at Luke's pen, it becomes the festival of the harvest of souls and giving of the Spirit, a project of fulfillment.
Pentecost is similarly marked at fifty days, from Easter. The apostles and Our Lady are in an upper room in Jerusalem when they experience theophany. These manifestations -- fire, wind, earthquake, ethereal voices and the like -- symbolize that God is doing something new. The new thing is the Church and by the gift of the Spirit the frightened little band will morph into bold evangelists to give Jesus' message to the world. Chairman Peter addresses the huge assembly of Jews from all over. The critics immediately start accusing the apostles of being drunk on wine (communion wine?) Peter rebuffs the taunts and forges ahead with a powerful messages which all assembled can understand!
The 'tongue' actions this day represent a reversal of Babel, an aetiological myth in which God creates all the languages of the world to get people to be, literally, more down-to-earth and to spread out and create the nations all around the globe. Now unity and mutual understanding will reign. The Faith will be open to all. There will be no nationality, race, gender, sexuality or anything else to divide the People of God. They will have unity in One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism.
The wonderful gift of the Spirit to the Catholic Church means that we stand empowered to go out and be Christ in the world. The Spirit still lives, the Spirit still guides the Church into all truth, the Spirit still empowers us through Word and Sacrament. What a wonderful, incredible gift. Let us always try to be worthy of it in His service.
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Saint Eadfrith
To set our context, I want to introduce a man whose life was very much affected by our Saint of the day. Nechtan was aarguably the greatest overking of the Pictish people, in the north of what we know today as northern Britain. Enthroned in 706, he was not only the military and political leader of a powerful, warlike people, but he was also a man of great learning. His great goal was to expand and consolidate Pictavia. He did that generally by military means, as when we took Orkney, a place we recently visited. The one exception was Northumberland, the northernmost English province which stood immediately south of his jurisdiction. Military aggression did not work, so he resorted to the logical alternative, diplomacy.
Now in those days a diplomatic settlement had to include not only political agreement but also the agreement of ecclesiastical leaders. While the English territories were in the western, Roman Catholic orbit, resulting from the synod of Whitby, the Christians in the north, including the Picts, Scots, and others still followed the old practices of the Celtic Church and found their leadership at Iona, the religious centre on the northwest coast. Two particularly distressing practices were the Celtic use of archaic methods to calculate the date of Easter, keeping them out of synch with the rest of the world, plus a method of tonsure of monks that was different, probably inherited from Druidic practice. As important part of the peace negotiations, Nechtan agreed to bring the north into western Catholic practice and ordered his clergy to comply. Those who did not he expelled from the kingdom in 717. Finally, he abdicated in 724 and lived the rest of his life as a monk. The Picts eventually were to be absorbed into the Scottish tribes, and their culture and language disappeared in the mists of history.
Eadrith from 698 was the Bishop of Landisfarne, the Holy Island in Northumberland on the east coast. He was negotiator with Nechtan for peace and religious unity. Desiring to leave a permanent legacy, Eadfrith alone produced the Lindisfarne Gospels, now in the British Museum. This most magnificent examploe of illuminated manuscripts, he toiled over for two solid years. A legacy indeed! And, in the spirit of his agreement with Nechtan, Eadfrith chose for his masterpiece Latin texts preferred by the Roman clergy, over against the texts used by Iona, and moreover he incorporated for the first time Celtic and Roman elements. His story should inspire us to discern deeply what talents we have to bring to God's work and what kind of legacy we would like to leave behind.
Now in those days a diplomatic settlement had to include not only political agreement but also the agreement of ecclesiastical leaders. While the English territories were in the western, Roman Catholic orbit, resulting from the synod of Whitby, the Christians in the north, including the Picts, Scots, and others still followed the old practices of the Celtic Church and found their leadership at Iona, the religious centre on the northwest coast. Two particularly distressing practices were the Celtic use of archaic methods to calculate the date of Easter, keeping them out of synch with the rest of the world, plus a method of tonsure of monks that was different, probably inherited from Druidic practice. As important part of the peace negotiations, Nechtan agreed to bring the north into western Catholic practice and ordered his clergy to comply. Those who did not he expelled from the kingdom in 717. Finally, he abdicated in 724 and lived the rest of his life as a monk. The Picts eventually were to be absorbed into the Scottish tribes, and their culture and language disappeared in the mists of history.
Eadrith from 698 was the Bishop of Landisfarne, the Holy Island in Northumberland on the east coast. He was negotiator with Nechtan for peace and religious unity. Desiring to leave a permanent legacy, Eadfrith alone produced the Lindisfarne Gospels, now in the British Museum. This most magnificent examploe of illuminated manuscripts, he toiled over for two solid years. A legacy indeed! And, in the spirit of his agreement with Nechtan, Eadfrith chose for his masterpiece Latin texts preferred by the Roman clergy, over against the texts used by Iona, and moreover he incorporated for the first time Celtic and Roman elements. His story should inspire us to discern deeply what talents we have to bring to God's work and what kind of legacy we would like to leave behind.
Sunday, June 2, 2019
Easter VII: Philippi
The remarkable Macedonian city of Philippi (pronounced phil-LEE-pee, but usually anglicized to FILL-a-pie) was a beautiful seacoast community. In 42 BCE, it was the location of the final battle between the Roman team of Marc Antony and Octavius versus Cassius and Brutus (of 'et tu, Brute?' fame). The latter combatants were fighting to keep the Roman world democratic (or at least oligarchic) but they lost the battle to their opponents who favoured dictatorship, and so republican government died. A reminder that democracy can slip away.
Later in history, Philippi became a wealthy, well-educated, sophisticated, and prosperous community. There were four basilicas and a Roman theatre there. The one-percenters made their money in gold mining or the marine business, but there were also wannabees in the city, as we shall see in a minute.
Philippi was the site of Saint Paul's first visit to Europe where he made his first European convert, a wealthy woman named Lydia, Now Paul and Silas are out preaching, and they gain a groupie. An enslaved woman begins to follow them around. Now she had a "spirit of divination," no one knows exactly what that meant. I think it indicates that she ran a good con doing fortune telling, and she had made her masters wealthy. But now, in the presence of the apostolic duo, she knows the real thing when she sees it, and she begins loudly to proclaim that Paul and Silas are speaking. Perhaps Paul didn't like her stealing his thunder; but, in any event, he cures her "gift," so that she no longer will perform.
This woman has been doubly oppressed as a slave and a sideshow act, and when oppressed folks refuse to be silent, they annoy power people. Paul wasn't the only one annoyed, Her owners, deprived of her moneymaking talent, are furious They call the law and have Paul and Silas harangued, arrested, beaten, thrown into prison with their feet in stocks, sequestered in the innermost space of the prison. There are always consequences when a person is liberated. There are racial and economic injustices in our society and round the world. We don't want to hear the proclamation that God can liberate them, change things through us. So we block the signal with busyness and materialism. We may not lose our freedom and be beaten as the apostles were, but there will be consequences for being God's change agents, we can be sure of that. But we must move out of our comfort zones and get into the fray.
As our tale unfolds further, the other prisoners are liberated, and even the jailor himself accepts the message of Jesus and becomes a convert. He and everyone in his family are baptised, and then they rejoice because the jailer has become a believer in God. The God-life is available to all, the call to liberation applies to all. The task is ours.
Later in history, Philippi became a wealthy, well-educated, sophisticated, and prosperous community. There were four basilicas and a Roman theatre there. The one-percenters made their money in gold mining or the marine business, but there were also wannabees in the city, as we shall see in a minute.
Philippi was the site of Saint Paul's first visit to Europe where he made his first European convert, a wealthy woman named Lydia, Now Paul and Silas are out preaching, and they gain a groupie. An enslaved woman begins to follow them around. Now she had a "spirit of divination," no one knows exactly what that meant. I think it indicates that she ran a good con doing fortune telling, and she had made her masters wealthy. But now, in the presence of the apostolic duo, she knows the real thing when she sees it, and she begins loudly to proclaim that Paul and Silas are speaking. Perhaps Paul didn't like her stealing his thunder; but, in any event, he cures her "gift," so that she no longer will perform.
This woman has been doubly oppressed as a slave and a sideshow act, and when oppressed folks refuse to be silent, they annoy power people. Paul wasn't the only one annoyed, Her owners, deprived of her moneymaking talent, are furious They call the law and have Paul and Silas harangued, arrested, beaten, thrown into prison with their feet in stocks, sequestered in the innermost space of the prison. There are always consequences when a person is liberated. There are racial and economic injustices in our society and round the world. We don't want to hear the proclamation that God can liberate them, change things through us. So we block the signal with busyness and materialism. We may not lose our freedom and be beaten as the apostles were, but there will be consequences for being God's change agents, we can be sure of that. But we must move out of our comfort zones and get into the fray.
As our tale unfolds further, the other prisoners are liberated, and even the jailor himself accepts the message of Jesus and becomes a convert. He and everyone in his family are baptised, and then they rejoice because the jailer has become a believer in God. The God-life is available to all, the call to liberation applies to all. The task is ours.
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